Pennyslvania Poker Rooms Rake in $4.9 Million in August

If you want a quick snapshot of the changing dynamics of the US land-based casino market, look no further than the August revenue from Pennsylvania’s booming poker rooms.

The Keystone State’s 10 poker rooms took in approximately $4.9 million in revenue during the month of August. While the action on the state’s 226 tables was relatively steady as compared to last year’s numbers, it doesn’t appear to show the kind of volatility that marks the month-in, month-out numbers coming out of its East Coast rival Atlantic City.

Down the road in AC, where many of the Pennsylvania players once traveled to get their fix of regulated gambling, poker pulled in just $4.5 million, according to a report on CardPlayer.com. That number includes around $2 million generated from the Garden State’s regulated online poker sites.

While online poker in New Jersey has been seeing a steady uptick over the past year or so, it still only accounts for around 13 percent of all online gambling in New Jersey. That’s just a drop in the bucket, but it is revenue that would appear to be relatively safe from poaching by Pennsylvania casinos. (Pennsylvania has been considering its own online poker bill for quite some time, but hasn’t made much progress on the project.)

As is the case in Jersey, Poker still represents just a fraction of the total gaming market. The total revenue for all of Pennsylvania’s table games rang up to $67 million. That’s a 3 percent dip from last year’s August number, but it’s also enough to make Pennsylvania America’s second biggest gaming market.